The 31 biggest banks in the U.S. all passed the first phase of the Federal Reserve’s stress test. This is the first time since the tests have been conducted on banks with over $50 billion in assets that all of them stayed above capital requirements. Banks have been building their…
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced that The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico has shut down Doral Bank in San Juan. The FDIC is now the bank’s receiver. Many investors have lost money through the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust Fund. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico…
Morgan Stanley Accuses Ex-Broker, Now With Ameriprise, of Trying to Take Clients Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is suing one of its ex-brokers, John McCallion, who is now with Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP). The wirehouse claims that McCallion went into Morgan Stanley’s (MS) computer system before leaving the firm and changed…
Sam Wyly and his late brother Charles Wyly’s estate must pay $299.4 million for committing securities fraud. The final judgment comes months after a jury found them civilly liable. The SEC sued the Texas billionaire brothers in 2010. The regulator accused them of making $553 million in undisclosed profits when…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether companies are stifling corporate whistleblowers. The regulator has submitted letters to companies to request a number of documents, including employment contracts, nondisclosure agreements, confidentiality deals, and settlement agreements entered into since the Dodd-Frank Act became law. SEC officials are worried…
The Investor Choice Act in Congress, A U.S. House bill written by Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is looking to stop investment advisers and brokers from obligating investors to pursue their claims in arbitration instead of going to court. The proposed legislation would bar pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts between clients…
New York State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey K. Oing says that he is temporarily stopping Meredith Whitney’s American Revival Fund from making investor payouts until there is a hearing about the securities lawsuit filed against the fund by BlueCrest Capital Opportunities Ltd. The plaintiff, a BlueCrest Capital Management affiliates, contends…
Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. (IARE) has lowered its estimated share value by 42.4%, because the company sold or spun off different assets over the last year. Among these were its hotel portfolios, now a listed real estate investment trust known as Xenia Hotels & Resorts Incorporated. Inland American…
Morgan Stanley (MS) has reached an agreement in principal with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve claims related to its sale of mortgage bonds. The government probe looked into allegations that the financial firm misrepresented the quality of home loans that were packaged into bonds. The broker-dealer, however, still…
Lockheed Martin Corp. has agreed to pay $62 million to settle a lawsuit accusing its employee 401(k) retirement plan of charging excessive fees to participants. As part of the settlement, the defense company will take part in monthly assessments of its plan, offer participants low-cost funds, and get bids from…